Wintry mix hits area; flooding a concern through today

Staff photo by Vinny Tennis
A woman walks in the snow down West Market Street in West Chester on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. The snow turned to freezing rain shortly before 2, and a half hour later had turned to rain.

Chester County residents experienced the gamut of precipitation Wednesday as rain, sleet and snow fell throughout the county.

Temperatures Wednesday hovered in the 30s throughout the day, though added wind made the actual feel of the weather to be somewhere in the mid- to low 20s.

Snow briefly coated the county beginning around noon Wednesday with the precipitation switching over to rain and sleet by early afternoon and carrying into the night.

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Though brief, the snow caused problems for motorists with more than a dozen traffic accidents recorded throughout the county Wednesday.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Charles Metzger said the transportation authority began with 44 trucks moving throughout the county to clear the snow.

Metzger said temperatures were anticipated to rise throughout Wednesday and crews prepped with storm inlet cleaning near problem areas such as the Brandywine Creek to avoid localized flooding.

“We expect it mostly be a rain event,” Metzger said.

The transportation authority had crews ready throughout Wednesday and utilized 180 trucks in the district for peak hours.

Despite the holiday season, Metzger said PennDOT was fully staffed.

“It’s good for us because it’s basically a holiday day for a lot of people who are off, which has reduced traffic,” Metzger said. “The temperatures are what’s on our side right now.”

Because of the weather, speed limits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike were reduced to 45 mph from the Ohio line to Lancaster/Berks counties.

According to turnpike representatives, the speed reduction is in place on nearly 300 miles of the turnpike. Representatives advised motorists not to travel unless it was necessary.

Trucks pulling double or empty trailers were banned from traveling the 86-mile stretch of turnpike from New Stanton to Breezewood.

With snowplows operating across the turnpike Wednesday, motorists were instructed by turnpike representatives to stay far away from the vehicles and advised not to attempt to pass one as conditions in front of the plows were likely to be unfavorable.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for eastern Chester County through this morning. According to the weather service, 1½ to 2 inches of rain was expected to fall across the area. Residents were to expect roads that flood during heavy rain to begin flooding late Wednesday and into today.

The weather service advised residents to monitor later forecasts and be alert for flood warnings.

With the recent heavy rain, the region has become more vulnerable to stream and river flooding as well as poor drainage flooding, according to the weather service.

The Pennsylvania Office of Administration announced that non-essential employees under the governor’s jurisdiction who work in the Capitol complex, Harrisburg area, Pittsburgh, Reading, Scranton and Philadelphia state office buildings were to leave work two hours before their scheduled end of day Wednesday because of the weather.